27 February 2009

Friday Night Slice, Part 5

Pie In The Sky

Seeking to bring the quality of ‘big city’ pizza to the Nashville area, local owners Kelly and Caroline Black opened Pie in the Sky Pizza on Valentine’s Day in 2001. PITS offers both traditional and gourmet pies, but is also known for its pastas, hoagies, calzones and wings. We’ve dined in and taken out from two (Cool Springs and Lenox Village) of the three (+ Vandy / Midtown) locations, picking up a hot pizza in Cool Springs for this evening’s review.

Pie in the Sky’s traditional “Signature” crust is of the thicker, hand tossed variety. The crust is fluffy and soft in the center with a crisp, crunchy exterior from the heavy dusting of cornmeal. Beware: the application of cornmeal has been known to get completely out of hand. This evening's quanity was only mildly excessive. The crust doesn’t have any dominant flavors or spices of its own, serving more as a texture placeholder and a plate for the toppings.

The sauce is thick and applied a little heavier, leaning more towards Chicago than New York in both flavor and quantity. Forgoing the spicy tinge that many sauces carry, it is very straightforward with the tomato puree and traditional Italian spices. We’re talking tomato tomoatoey tomatoeness. Thick, direct tomato flavor. You better like that. The cheese is a tasty mozarella with an outstandingly high pull-away factor and the pepperoni was above most on freshness and flavor.

the dining experience:

PITS offers ample table and booth seating along with a full service bar and closed-off dining areas for parties. Now, I’m no accredited interior designer, but the decor confuses me. It seems to take any slight reference to the “sky” portion of their name and run with it, futilely meshing some form a rocket / space theme with a clouds / flying theme and even an angel theme. Both the Cool Springs and Lenox Village locations include an over-sized mural of those hideous baby angels looking to the sky, while each table features a space age plasma lightning lamp.

We’ve always had great service at PITS, but we typically take out in lieu of dining in due to the same dominant demographic that many pizza joints attract. At off-peak mealtime hours, however, all three locations offer full service bars with several high definition TVs for sporting events.

On the whole, Pie in the Sky serves up a nice pizza, certainly a cut above the standard delivery chains. It's a little pricier than some, but the ingredients are fresh, the pizzas are made-to-order and they offer a wide variety of gourmet toppings. I just prefer a little more happening in my sauce beyond TOMATO and I can't seem to get over the sawdust taste that all that cornmeal leaves in your mouth. But, as LeVar Burton says, "you don't have to take my word for it..."

Pie In The Sky PizzaCool Springs (map), Lenox Village (map) and Vandy/Midtown (map)- all locations are open 7 days a week for lunch and dinner- the Vandy location is open late Tuesday through SaturdayDine-In, Carry Out and Delivery

2 comments:

I love Pie in the Sky, however, last time we went I got a bloody Mary with spoiled mix, according to the waiter who brought it out and decided not to serve it to me when sitting it on the table and when I ask for a side of mozzarella it had mold in it! But I would go back!